Working Towards A Cure For People With Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is still the cancer most likely to affect women in the UK, and 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. When breast cancer is caught early it can usually be cured by a combination of surgery, with or without radiotherapy, and drug treatment. In some women, however, the cancer has already spread as seedlings (or metastases) that are too small to be seen and are not killed by drug treatment after their diagnosis. In those people the cancer can come back (or recur) elsewhere in the body, and once these seedlings become visible, breast cancer can be controlled but not cured. 

Perhaps the biggest challenge in helping people with breast cancer is treating these seedlings to get rid of them, or control them for as long as possible; the best way to do this is with drug treatment, which spreads through the body and can reach these metastases wherever they are. 

Chemotherapy can be used in people with all types of breast cancer, but for most types of breast cancer anti-hormone treatment (such as tamoxifen) or new “targeted” drugs (such as Trastuzumab or Herceptin) have led to more people being cured, or their cancer being controlled for longer. There is, however, one type of breast cancer that does not have the three key “targets” that these new treatments attack. That type of breast cancer is called “triple negative breast cancer”, which is often shortened to TNBC. TNBC affects about 1 in 6 of people diagnosed with breast cancer, and is more common in premenopausal women, who are often young mothers, and those from Afro-Caribbean communities. TNBC is also more likely to be inherited and run in families that carry the BRCA gene mutation. 

TNBC can be more “aggressive”, in that it is more likely to come back and spread to other parts of the body than other types of breast cancer. Chemotherapy can be effective in preventing TNBC spreading, and many women with TNBC are cured if it is caught early; interestingly, some chemotherapy drugs seem to work better in people with TNBC than others. However, for most people with TNBC we do not yet have the targeted therapies that help patients with other types of breast cancer.

What research is going on to find targeted treatments for TNBC?

Doctors and laboratory scientists are starting to understand TNBC better, with more research being done into TNBC than ever before. They have not yet found a “magic bullet”, but several new treatments are becoming available and others are looking promising. These include:

• Immunotherapy: These drugs boost the body’s immune system to fight cancer. Interestingly, immunotherapy, given with chemotherapy, seems to work better in people with TNBC than other types of breast cancer. These benefits are seen mainly in people with TNBC whose cancers contain plenty of immune cells. Immunotherapy is becoming available through the NHS those people with TNBC who are most likely to benefit, and there are many important trials in people with TNBC.

• PARP inhibitors: People who have the inherited BRCA gene mutation are more likely to develop TNBC than other types of breast cancer. One of the features of BRCA cancers is that they have a fault in the way they repair damage to DNA. Research into BRCA has led to the development of targeted treatmenst called “PARP” inhibitors, which are not chemotherapy but can still kill these cancers. PARP inhibitors are taken by mouth and have fewer side effects than chemotherapy. It is hoped that PARP inhibitors will become available through the NHS to those people with TNBC most likely to benefit, and again there are ongoing trials.

• Targeted chemotherapy: Smart drugs that deliver chemotherapy to cancer cells rather than to healthy parts of the body work better, and have fewer side effects, than ordinary chemotherapy in clinical trials and are expected to become available through the NHS; there are also new clinical trials underway.

• Genomics: Advances in the genetic “fingerprinting” of cancers are identifying more new targets in TNBC. There are encouraging signs that drugs acting on these targets will lead to more people with TNBC in the future receiving effective therapies.

For more detailed information on research into TNBC, please click the following button.

Should people think about taking part in clinical trials?

Yes, they should! The treatments we have now for those with TNBC are the result of people in previous years taking part in clinical trials; this is how medicine moves forwards and people with cancer benefit. People might want to think about discussing with your oncologist whether there are trials for which you might be suitable. You may not yourself benefit from taking part in a trial, but you could well help people in the future who are in your situation. There are many different types of clinical trial, looking at different drugs and other treatments. Some may be looking at as yet unproven or experimental approaches; others may involve a new treatment that is known to work, but needs to be compared with the best current treatment. 

How Can I Help Research into Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

A donation to the UK Charity for Triple Negative Breast Cancer will allow us to provide information to women with TNBC and invest in the excellent UK scientific centres that are doing much needed and groundbreaking work into TNBC.

The easiest and quickest way is to use the DONATE button on the ‘home’ page which will open up various ways of paying including debit or credit card and PayPal.

Alternatively, email info@ukcharityfortnbc.org and we can send you details of where to make bank transfers or paycheques.

Have you ever considered leaving a legacy gift to Triple Negative Breast Cancer in your Will?

Legacy gifts are an excellent way to help fund life-saving research. Leaving a legacy gift could contribute to the breakthrough that will beat TNBC for future generations.

Ask your Solicitor about including a legacy gift in your will, be clear on exactly how much and to exactly who it should go to so your executors can carry out your wishes. Be sure to specify the ‘UK Charity for Triple Negative Breast Cancer’ a registered charity in England and Wales no. 1192952.

And of course, a gift left to a charity in a will does not incur Inheritance Tax.